Game:Ansem, Seeker of Darkness: Difference between revisions

'''[[Ansem, Seeker of Darkness]]''' is a boss in ''{{c|Kingdom Hearts|game}}'' and ''[[Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories]]''. He is the Heartless of [[Terra-Xehanort]], and leader of the [[Heartless]].  

In ''[[Kingdom Hearts III]]'', Ansem is fought in the [[Keyblade Graveyard]], initially alongside [[Xigbar]] and [[Dark Riku]], although he retreats not long into the battle, and later fights alongside [[Xemnas]] and [[Young Xehanort]]. A data replica of him is also a optional boss in ''[[Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind]]''.

|''"Submit!"''<br>The guardian charges at Sora and swipes twice. If any of these swipes connects, the guardian will possess Sora and frequently damage him from within.

====First Battle====

*Ansem sics the guardian on [[Sora]] while he creates an energy shield around himself.

====Second Battle====

When Ansem says "My strength returns!" his guardian will dive into the ground, creating dark pools underneath Sora which shoot out of the ground. During this time, Ansem is invincible and the attack must be avoided, either by dodging or guarding. Failing to evade this attack can be highly damaging or even fatal, depending on the amount of HP Sora has at the time. The attack ends with the guardian striking the ground, creating a shockwave.

|In ''Re:Chain of Memories'' : only used in second battle.

|Quickly reloads attack cards and magic cards, including normally unreloadable cards.

In ''[[Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories]]'', Ansem will also use the "Shock Slash" technique, which can be easily dodged. The tutorial has been narrowed down to focus on the new [[Rapid Break]] and the new [[Duel System]] mechanics, and ends as soon as Riku successfully performs them.

The second time Ansem is fought is during the final battle of Riku's Story. This time around, Ansem brings into play some of his attacks from the first game, such as the sleights Dark Rush (where he zooms back and forth across the arena) and Dark Shadow (when he sends his guardian into the floor, creating pools of darkness that the guardian rises out of, fist raised). It's best to use 0 cards to break Dark Rush, although it can be jumped over with perfect timing, but Dark Shadow can be avoided easily by dodging. There is one unorthodox strategy that involves losing all of Riku's cards (from sleights) except one 0 card. If he gets left with one 0 card, immediately reload after (because Riku has instant reload, unlike Sora) and continue a combo. This works because the zero will always break Ansem's next card and if he breaks Riku's, reloading will give Riku a zero card.

In ''[[Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories]]'', start with the [[Maleficent]] Dragon [[Enemy Card]] and attack Ansem with combos. Make a Card Break every time to gain Dark Points and after [[Riku]] transform into [[Dark Mode]], use the [[Jafar]]-Genie enemy card and use Sleights like [[Dark Break]], [[Dark Firaga]] and Dark Aura to inflict heavy damage. After taking three (or more) [[King Mickey]] [[Friend Card]]s, use the [[MM Miracle]] Lv. 2 or MM Miracle Lv. 3 sleights to recover HP, reload cards, and damage Ansem. Break Ansem's sleights every time and continue the attacks. If Riku transforms into his normal form again, keep attacking and use the [[Item Card]] [[Hi-Potion]] to reload his [[Attack Card]]s. Win the Card Duels for heavy damage to Ansem. Never attack Ansem with his guardian in its front, only use that time to reload Riku's cards or use MM Miracle Lv. 3 to recover cards and HP. Use the [[Oogie Boogie]] Enemy Card to help keep up Riku's HP in the battle. Watch out for certain sleights used by Ansem, some can deal heavy damage to [[Riku]]. With a high level, deft dodging, and good use of the enemy cards, Ansem should fall eventually.

It should be noted that Ansem's Sleights tend to be reserved for later, and he initially just bothers with single card attacks. Once he loses 1.5-2 bars of HP he will start using his Sleights more regularly and attempt to break the player's. He will always start using his own card to hide his Sleight's value, but the [[Parasite Cage]] card can dispel this. A good idea is to use simple Sleights at the beginning to hit Ansem quick and for high damage all the while accumulating DP. Following this the player should have Dark Mode and Ansem will start using his own Sleights so having a few 0 cards nearby is advisable. Otherwise assaulting Ansem with Sleights like Dark Break or Dark Aura is helpful specially the latter as it can prevent Ansem from using his cards during the assault, although special care should be placed during the execution as he can break it with a 0 card of his own so it is advisable (for the entire battle) to use this Sleights instantly after Ansem attempts to use his own cards to Card Break him thus leaving him vulnerable to the attacks.

====First Form====

|Used with the Reality Shift platforms on.

|Has the guardian charge and hurl powerful shockwaves at Riku along the ground..

The battle starts with both parties in midair in Darkness's Call, where Ansem has an advantage. His Shock Slash has been upgraded and now homes in on Riku, and he has a habit of chaining them together for combos. His Rush is slightly different from other versions of Dark Rush, and cannot be blocked. In order to evade it, Riku can either just fly in a circle when Ansem is about to charge at him or [[Air Slide]] out of the way at each charge.

Now the battle is on the ground of Darkness's Call. His guardian now absorbs all damage aimed at Ansem. When the latter happens, use [[Flowmotion]] on the guardian as if it's a wall, and attack Ansem with it. The guardian can also attack with swipes and a new, vicious double overhand that can hit Riku even if he is airborne. As soon as the platform begins to fade away, he uses his old lightning bolt ability which is now slower, but more powerful and cannot be blocked. The fight itself is relatively straightforward and the same strategies from before can defeat the [[Heartless]] once more.

====Second Form====

|Has the guardian shooting six dark-charged shots being sometimes aimed at Riku.

|Has the guardian using two Dark Firagas homing around Riku or using them above and making multitude of them falling on the battlefield.

|Goes backwards if Riku is close and has the guardian sending five waves of darkness going upwards behind Riku.

|Hides in his sphere and has the guardian turning the surrounding area black and starting summoning torrents of darkness from the floor, drawing Riku to him, sending Riku flying across the pathway and launching several huge spheres sometimes aimed at Riku.

|1.0 ( each)

|Has the guardian sending Riku flying across the pathway and creating two big spheres of energy.

|Has the guardian using Dark Shots which, upon going into the spheres, turn into high-speed lasers aimed at Riku.

|Has the guardian shooting Dark Firagas turning after going into the spheres into colored orbs of darkness inflicting to Riku and his Dream Eaters depending on the colors Confuse, Poison, or Slow for 10 seconds if being hit.

|Has the guardian using upper Dark Firagas falling into the sphreres unleashing a rain of shots inflicting Poison for 10 seconds if being hit.

|If Riku is close, has the guardian launching several waves turning after going into the spheres into slow dark shots turning into capturing waves if Riku is close, putting him into a comatose state, dragging him into the spheres.

|Upon Riku being caught in the spheres merging together, has the guardian unleashing several Dark Shots on Riku inflicting several non-lethal damage, making the sphere detonated and knocking Riku back at the end.

Ansem merges with his guardian as he transports both himself and Riku to the Darkest End area. Ansem is now sealed inside a massive organic sphere with his guardian attached to the top. The creature will try to smash Riku or throw dark magical crests at him. It will also shoot a massive number of Dark Firaga orbs that can possibly home in on Riku and send waves of Shock Slash-like attacks towards him that can make dealing solid blows on Ansem difficult. After a while, Ansem launches Riku across the arena's pathway, forcing Riku to run back to him. After that, press LR to return the spirits back to Riku's side (two times if LR unlocks the target) so they will be able to help.

Ansem won't make it any easier for Riku—he forms two balls of darkness which can shoot incredibly quick lasers at Riku which have to be dodged and can't be blocked. He also unleashes a rain of blasts that can afflict Poison on Riku and waves of darkness that, if it catches him, drags Riku into one of the spheres of [[darkness]] and leaves Ansem free to deal massive non-lethal damage. If Riku has [[Dark Splicer]], Dark Aura or [[Zantetsuken]] equipped or access to the [[Ghost Drive]] [[Dual Style]], use it the moment Riku reaches the end of the pathway to warp right up to Ansem and deal damage. This is a risky tactic, as Riku can easily be captured into the spheres of darkness, or Ansem's guardian will attack with no chance to escape.

Riku can also use [[Ice Barrage]] to damage Ansem even at the end of the pathway, but he must be locked-on. It is, however, possible to predict what move he's going to use as Riku are running towards him: if he begins forming the light purple blasts of darkness in front of himself, he is about to shoot the lasers. The moment this happens, wait until they submerge into one spot before dodging to evade the attack; if he begins forming the Dark Firaga orbs, if he sends them upward, he is going release a rain of energy blasts that can poison Riku—but they are not that easy to dodge/block and as Riku is blocking them, Ansem can follow easily with the lasers as Riku can't dodge while blocking, or if he sends the Dark Firagas straightforward, he is going to release a multitude of purple and white orbs that can inflict [[Poison]], [[Blind]], [[Slow]], or [[Confuse]], but are easy to evade by simply guarding or dodge rolling straightforward. As the latter can inflict Confuse, which if inflicted on Riku's own spirits, can cause them to attack him because of this status ailment. If Ansem releases the energy crests, he's going to summon the waves of darkness that suck Riku in. Use Flowmotion to evade this by staying airborne, as they last for quite a while; or use [[Firaga Burst]] with Double Jump to stay in the air so he won't be able to drag Riku in and deal damage. Then use Flowmotion with [[Sonic Impact]], if possible, by going backwards to the walls.  

As soon as he has lost at least four bars of health, the next phase starts. Ansem turns the surrounding area black and starts summoning torrents of darkness from the floor drawing Riku to him, which Riku must evade and block. Once he finishes this, he sends Riku flying across the pathway again, but this time he summons rows of large '8-ball bombs' which can easily defeat Riku if he touches even one of them. As they sometimes home in on Riku, he must carefully dodge these, but they can also be blocked. Riku can't use Flowmotion at this point—Ansem prevents the walls from being used here, so rapid dodging and blocking are Riku's only tactics. Fortunately, Riku can dodge roll near the walls and return to Ansem without the Flowmotion activates, so can avoid the balls easily. He can also use Dark Splicer as the ball bombs reach him to go near Ansem and deal some damage without being knocked back by the attack, but he should have Second Chance/Once More equipped to survive the attack and as Dark Splicer lasts long enough until the end of the Heartless's attack, therefore, there shouldn't be any risks for Riku to be knocked back, but he should immediately heal after this. Whenever Riku returns to Ansem, press LR to make the spirits come back to him. After this, just repeat the cycle of pounding Ansem and running back to him and he'll go down.

If Riku does a lot of damage in a short time, the Mirage Split Reality Shift icon can appear (but it can't during the beginning of the second phase of the battle) and after using it, Ansem will be unable to do anything for a moment. If Riku attacks him right away with {{Button|DSA}}, Ansem will keep flinching while Riku does combos and can attack permanently until his defeat (even if he retains 1 HP at the end). After some time, while hitting him again and again, the Reality Shift can reappear, so Riku will be able to finish him off with it.

Ansem is first fought when he fights Riku and Sora along with Xigbar and Dark Riku but he quickly leaves and is finally fought for real alongside Xemnas and Young Xehanort at the end of the Keyblade Graveyard.

Ansem's attacks include him creating violet spheres of [[light]] around Sora that launch lasers at him, surrounding himself in those spheres to generate a damaging barrier as he rushes to attack Sora, creating multiple dark crests that explode upon contact, spawning a dark circle that follows Sora and eventually transforms into a cage of dark claws, and his deadliest has Ansem exert red energy around him which pulls in and knockback Sora before he unleashes tendrils of darkness that deal heavy damage, however if timed correctly, one can use [[Aerial Recovery]] and [[Payback Strike]], the knockbacks before the blast deal no damage and it's possible to [[glide]] away before getting trapped. During his attacks with the spheres, he cannot be flinched when hit. When he creates dark mines, the best way to clear them is to use [[thunder]] [[magic]].  

Each member will have a dark aura whenever they disappear and reappear meaning that Sora will be their only target. Each time they reappear they will use a specific attack with the one with the aura appearing last. For Ansem, Young Xehanort will use his whip-snaring attack followed by Xemnas launching energy balls and Ansem using his shockwave last. To avoid this, [[Dodge Roll]] or jump to avoid Young Xehanort's attack, block Xemnas's energy balls and if you get caught by Ansem, carefully time your aerial recovery then payback strike. Each time a member is defeated or if all three disappears after attacking with the dark aura, the cyclone sequence will repeat itself with each member using a specific attack. If Young Xehanort is defeated first, Ansem will launch speheres of light that will extend into beams, then will release the cage of claws which will launch Sora into the air followed by Xemnas's rolling attack. First jump to avoid the cage and block all the beams and finally Xemnas. If Xemnas falls first, Xehanort will launch missiles of ice that will freeze Sora, followed by Ansem's shockwave attack. If Ansem's the only one left, he'll release the spheres like with Xemnas and use his shockwave attack. Sora can either block the beams and use payback strike or dodge roll the beams and glide away, but the timing of the spheres can be a little tricky to dodge.

In addition to retaining his old abilities, they are made stronger and with modified abilities, as Ansem is able to create more dark crests that homes on Sora outright instead of staying in one place and can charge at Sora all at once if they are close enough to let out a stronger explosion and his circle moves faster and his orbs are more numerous and unleash violet darkness instead and he can have them rain down on Sora instead of firing them straightly. Ansem's new abilities include him firing bullets of dark energy and being able to use his old Shield Rush ability.  

Once he's lost enough health, Ansem will cover the entire simulation in darkness and summon 2 large orbs of darkness like that of his Dream Drop Distance fight. There, Ansem is able to have them fire shots of darkness that inflicts status effects and can surround Sora with them not just to attack him more directly but also have them trap Sora for Ansem to explode the orbs and him, dealing huge damage. Ansem can also use his violet orbs to fire lasers in a sweeping manner and is able to have the 2 large dark orbs stand as one of them fires the shots before rushing at Sora and fuse them to launch unblockable spheres of dark energy, which he fires dozens of at a time.